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Єh Єh \ l в в в в в в в ╥ ╥ ╥ ╥ ╥ ▐ ╥ ! ъ Ў Ў Ў Ў Ў Ў Ў Ў ▐ р р р р р р , + X в Ў Ў Ў Ў Ў F в в Ў Ў Ў F F F Ў " в Ў в Ў ▐ F ╢ ─ в в в в Ў ▐ F Ш F ▐ в в ▐ ъ ■m╗ ╥ ╥ . ▐ ▐ ! ! ▐ Г F Г ▐ F ├ х Oakledge Park, several dozen acres of open fields and woods, lies just at the southern end of Burlington with stunning views over Lake Champlain towards the Adirondacks. In late June Т03, 13 students and 4 staff from the Science and Technology Institute set out to understand and interpret the natural and human history of this busy waterfront park. Little did we know what we would find!
Starting with almost 70 years of aerial photographs, we traced the evolution of this parcel from wide-open agricultural land in 1937 to the urban and suburban sprawl that dominates in 2003. We found clues in the photos that lead us to the bowels of the UVM library and dusty stacks of archival material including maps of Burlington from the late 1700s. Scanning everything, the students rapidly compiled a fascinating electronic archive of the ParkТs history (geology.uvm.edu/oakledge). Soon they had a mission, to tell the public the history of the Park starting half a billion years ago when the rocks underfoot were laid down in a shallow sea. By the end of their week at GIV, the group had prepared a dozen interpretive signboards for installation at Oakledge Park, a wonderful example of community service learning.
What did we learn? We know that todayТs park was the first Webb estate in Vermont with a fancy Victorian mansion and a large, well tended farm yard. The same Webbs went on less than a decade later to build the magnificent structures now preserved at Shelburne Farms. They sold Oakledge in 1926 and until the 1960s it was run as Oakledge Manor, a private resort with sailing, swimming, tennis and horseback riding only two miles from the center of Burlington. Finally, in 1971, the city purchased the site to keep it out of developers hands, burned the last of the historic structures, and established the Park
The project hasnТt stopped! In July, several folks from the group spoke to the Burlington City Council and then in August, GIV hosted History Day at the Park for the public. Over 150 people came to see the studentsТ work and share their stories and artifacts of Oakledge. The work of GIV was on all three Burlington TV stations and in color in the Free Press. Our goal now is to revise the signage, find funding for sign production, and see a dozen or more signs erected in Park by next summer.
Paul Bierman, GIV instructor and Professor of Geology at UVM
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